


tell me you love me (pls, i beg u).

by AnxiousCupcake



Series: half-baked unrelated plot kitties [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is DYING, Adrinette, Cute stuff honestly, Frustrated Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Humour, Marichat, Marichat Bros tbh, Marinette being a self saboteur, Marinette is trying, Oblivious Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Pre-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, a whole lot of adrien being stupidly in love, cuz there's not enough pre-reveal adrinette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27307027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousCupcake/pseuds/AnxiousCupcake
Summary: Adrien’s patience was hanging by a thread. Wearing thin, rapidly dissipating, dissolving, the way his father claimed teeth dissolved in aerated drinks, take your pick. He loved the girl, he really did. But as he watched her stutter a little before she let her head fall on her desk with a wince-worthy thump, before she asked for his physics homework going off their (very, very well-rehearsed) script again. All he wanted to do was take her by the shoulders and shake her while screaming,“Tell me you love me, I beg you. I can’t stand waiting around this way!”And then maybe kiss the hell out of her.Hell, he wanted to kiss the hell out of her right now, but he couldn’t because there was The Bet™ that he now felt, in hindsight, was stupid. Not that he would ever admit that to Plagg or to his Princess, of course.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: half-baked unrelated plot kitties [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980556
Comments: 36
Kudos: 353





	tell me you love me (pls, i beg u).

**Author's Note:**

> this is possibly the most self-indulgent thing i've written, it was going to be a drabble but then... i lost control and made up a LOT of it as i go, so there'll be a lot of blanks you guys will have to fill. anyways, don't hate me :P
> 
> [tumblr.](https://activechataclysme.tumblr.com/)

Adrien’s patience was hanging by a thread. Wearing thin, rapidly dissipating, dissolving, the way his father claimed teeth dissolved in aerated drinks, take your pick. In that moment, he felt like Tantalus, hungry, the fruit within his reach but just _barely_ . _So. Close._

He loved the girl, he really did, and though he did his absolute best to soften her nerves as he looked at her with what he hoped was a hopeful smile, he suspected that he wasn’t able to cut through her panic induced haze. He watched her stutter a little before she let her head fall on her desk with a wince-worthy thump, before she asked for his physics homework going off their (very, _very_ well-rehearsed) script _again_. All he wanted to do was take her by the shoulders and shake her while screaming,

“ _Tell me you love me, I beg you. I can’t stand waiting around this way!”_

And then maybe kiss the hell out of her.

Hell, he wanted to kiss the hell out of her _right now_ , but he _couldn’t_ because there was _The Bet_ _™_ that he now felt, in hindsight, was stupid. Not that he would _ever_ admit that to Plagg _or_ to his Princess, of course. 

Really, he wished she would hurry up with her confession before he combusted on the spot and did something uncharacteristically _un-_ gentlemanly, like drag her off to the nearest empty closet and kiss her senseless. He was sure she wouldn’t mind, what with her accidentally telling Chat Noir her fantasy of being pinned against the wall while being made out with, but _still_ . He couldn’t just _do that_. 

Or _could_ he?

Well, he _could._

But he _mustn’t._

Suppressing a frustrated groan, he looked over his shoulder at the love of his life as she opened her French Literature notebook with a miserable frown. He really was not looking forward to _another_ torturous practice session that evening. He sighed softly to himself, determined to find out what went wrong _this_ time.

-o-

“... _And he was just…. SMILING at me,”_ groaned Marinette as she shoved her face into her pillow with a groan.

Chat looked at her blankly. “And that is a problem, _because_ …?”

“He looked so _cute_ ,” she wailed. “It’s not fair, my brain _shortcircuits._ Can you _believe_ my _stutter came back_ !? _After almost three years of being friends with him!?_ I was _mortified._ ”

Chat couldn’t help the warmth that flooded his cheeks. “You couldn’t ask him out because he was too _cute_?”

“Yeah, go ahead, _laugh_ at me,” she pouted petulantly. 

He smiled at her softly instead. “No, I think that’s quite… Sweet.”

Marinette scrunched her nose at him. “You weren’t there. It was my Top 10 Embarassing Marinette Moments.”

Chuckling, Chat pat her side to have her make room for him before sliding in next to her in the space she had created. 

“So how was your day? How’d it go with _your_ girl?”

 _My girl._ Adrien liked the sound of that.

“I really, _really_ wanted to ask her out today.”

“Did you?” Marinette asked, with a sly gleam to her eyes. 

“ _No_ ,” said Chat petulantly. “I’ll have you know that this gentlecat is _very_ patient with the leading ladies of his life.”

“I bet Ladybug would beg to differ,” she replied mischievously.

“ _Hey_ , I was a _kitten_ then with a stupid crush!” Chat replied indignantly with a pout. “I did _not_ know better.”  
  
Marinette chuckled quietly, patting his head.

“ _Marinette, please_ ask your boy out so I can ask _her_ out!” whined Chat.

“Careful, Chat,” sang Marinette. “Your impatience is showing.”

Chat groaned. This _really_ was a bad idea. It was bad enough that what he considered a triumphant statement - _I will ask out the girl I’m in love with, if you confess your feelings to the boy that you love._ He was yet to figure out why that in itself was a good idea, but he just _had_ to let himself be goaded into placing a bet on his _patience._

 _“I don’t think you have the patience to wait that long, kitty_ ,” she had said back then.

“ _Bet?”_ he had challenged, like an utter fool, because she was _right_ , he did, in fact, _not_ have the patience to wait _that_ long. It’d been _two weeks_ already.

“You don’t understand,” insisted Chat. “She- She sits _behind_ me. I can feel her gaze on me, you know? It makes me want to turn around, lean over her table and kiss her.”

“You think, _I_ have it easy?” Marinette demanded. “I can’t _concentrate_ in class because he sits _right in front_ of me. And my fingers _itch_ to reach out to touch his hair and-”

“You should,” said Chat immediately, before coughing and continuing, “I mean, I wouldn’t mind if the girl behind me did that to me, so.”

“Yeah, that’s because you’re in love with her,” said Marinette rolling her eyes.

“Why do you still think Adrien Agreste is not in love with you!” exclaimed Chat. 

Marinette worried her lower lip. “Chat, we’ve known each other for four years now, if he had any interest, he would’ve _said_ something by now, right?”

Chat sighed. “Princess, we’ve been over this. You feel so much, but _you_ haven’t said anything either, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s because he’s been clear on how I’m “just a very good friend”, you know!” Marinette said defensively, making Chat wince. 

“Well, um, I friendzoned my classmate too, you know,” said Chat quietly. “I don’t know when I _started_ to fall in love with her but I only realised two years ago and well, I tried _everything_ in my power to get closer to her...” 

He avoided tacking on _During a road trip over the summer, when I had to watch another guy get really close to you, and I was scared out of my mind that you two would start dating because I **know** how in love with you Luka was, and I was torn between relief for me and concern for you when it didn’t work out and I **still** don't know what really happened _ because that would be one coincidence too many, he supposed.

“I… Did not know that,” said Marinette, clearing the bangs out of his eyes. “Why did you wait so long to ask her out, then?”

Chat gave her a wistful smile. “I was too afraid to ruin my friendship with her. She means the _world_ to me, you know. She doesn't even realize how many times she's made my day brighter just by smiling at me."

He paused, before taking in a deep breath. "And well, about 6 months ago I found out that she used to be in love with me but had tried to give up on me..."

"Oh, Chat, I'm sorry," said Marinette, shifting closer to him. "Are you sure, though? Maybe it's not too late?"

"She, er, told me, actually," he said, not liking the dangerous turn the conversation had taken.

"She _told_ you!? That's... Mean!" pouted Marinette.

"Oh, um, not to, um, _civilian me_ ," Chat admitted, a hand going up to rub the back of his neck to ease his nerves. "She told _Chat Noir_ me."

Marinette blinked. "What? Really? Why did she-"

Chat chuckled and put a finger against her lips. "What're you, Alya Césaire? You know I can't answer all that without giving away my secret identity."

"Right," Marinette muttered, looking a little thoughtful.

"Anyways," said Chat loudly. "Apparently, she'd been in love with me since we met. Almost four years ago now. And-

“Wow, and you’d been friendzoning her all this while?” snorted Marinette. “I know _exactly_ how she feels.”

“I’ll bet,” muttered Chat. “Your Adrien is as much an idiot as I am.”

“Hey, enough badmouthing Adrien and my kitty,” said Marinette sternly, wagging her finger in her face. “It’s not the end of the world you know."

Chat perked up. "Yes! I found out a month ago from um, mysterious sources that cannot be disclosed, that she did _not_ succeed in getting over me!"

"And you say you have _all_ the bad luck in the world!" Marinette beamed. Now’s _your_ chance, ask her out.”

Chat scrunched his nose. “I _can’t_ because of your _stupid_ bet.”

Marinette cackled. “It was _not_ my idea”

“Yeah, but you didn’t _have_ to take me up on it, you _know_ I say stupid shit all the time!” whined Chat.

“Sorry, kitty, you’re just _so_ fun to tease.”

“ _Marinette-!”_

“Okay, okay,” she laughed. “I’ll _try_ to do this, but _only_ for you.”

“ _Only_ for me, sure, sure,” said Chat sarcastically. “Not because you want to be able to get your Adrien by the collar and-”

She smacked him with a pillow. “Will you help me or _no_!”

_Oh boy._

“S-Sure.”

They both sat up in her bed and Marinette schooled her expression into a serious one. “Adrien…”

Chat gulped. “Y-Yeah, Marinette?”

“I know this may seem strange and sudden-”

“It is _not_ strange,” interrupted Chat.

“ _Fine,_ ” huffed Marinette. “Adrien, I know this may seem sudden but there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time.”

She inhaled deeply. 

“I’ve been in love with you since you gave me that umbrella, and I know it’s been a long time since then, and I don’t expect you to return my feelings but I just needed you to know that I love you.”

Chat’s breath hitched. “I-I love you too, Mari.”

“You say that _everytime_.” Marinette laughed breathily. ”You need to also prepare me for the worst case scenario, you know.”

“No need,” said Chat, his voice cracking a little. “I’m pretty sure he won’t say no to you.”

“You have too much faith in me, Chat,” sighed Marinette, leaning her head against his shoulder. 

“You deserve every ounce of it,” he shrugged, hesitating only briefly before putting his arm around her.

“I’ll try to make you proud,” she giggled weakly. “I’ll tell him tomorrow.”

-o-

She didn’t.

Points for trying though, because _clearly_ she’d asked him to come over for a round of UMS III to finally ( _finally!_ ) tell him, but she didn’t ask _just him_ , much to his chagrin. At least, he was _sure_ she _meant_ to, but Nino had invited himself, determined to beat the _both_ of them at the game, and he wondered if he imagined the sly grin on Alya’s face. 

“Sorry, sunshine,” she mouthed with a shrug, as Nino gushed to Marinette about having pastries while playing the game.

Well, subtlety has never been his strong suit. 

Adrien wouldn’t deny that Marinette wasn’t cute when she got all nervous and blushy, but there was so much at stake, damn it. 

He could still hope though, he supposed. Maybe Nino and Alya would leave early? 

They did, which pleased Adrien, as he pretended to ignore the knowing smirks on his friends’ faces as they left.

And at one point, his heart was beating out of his chest when Marinette beckoned him to sit next to him, took his hands apprehensively in hers, said his name and then, he felt her breathing start to quicken. 

_This is it._

“I know this may seem strange and sudden,” she started, swallowing thickly. “But I… I- I _mean_ , **_just_ ** _sudden,_ not- _not_ strange. Nope,” she laughed nervously.

_Oh, Marinette..._

He squeezed her hands gently, wondering if she could hear his thumping heart as he tried not to laugh and take her into his arms. 

“Anyways, so, um,” continued Marinette. “The sudden… _Thing_. Um. I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time that um… Umbrella…”

“Umbrella?” prompted Adrien, trying to hold in his squeal of excitement. _It is happening._

“Yeah, um, your umbrella,” continued Marinette, worrying her lower lip as she looked at him anxiously.

“My umbrella?” asked Adrien, pretending to be confused. 

“The one you, um, lent to me?” said Marinette, “On your first day of school when I was… You know, being a bitch to you but then you were so nice to me even though I didn’t deserve it, and oh my _gosh_ I was so _mean_ , I’m so sorry about that Adrien! I cannot believe I-”

 _Digression! Digression!_ He thought, with alarm as Marinette deflated further and further as her ramblings turned a little incoherent.

“-It’s just that Chloe was such a _Chloe_ back then, and I thought-”

“ _Marinette_!” he cut her off with a chuckle in his voice, tugging at her hands gently. She snapped out of him and blinked at him as if just realising he was here. “You were saying… Something about my umbrella?”

“What?” she asked, before shaking her head. “ _Right._ Umbrella. Um… I… I still have it.”

“Why?” he asked, quietly, scooting just a little closer to her. 

Her eyes widened in panic, as her gaze darted around her room before finally landing on her closet. “Um… _Um…._ UM……. I- I just…. Wait a second!” And then she was ripping her hands out of his grip and running towards the closet where he knew she kept that umbrella. 

This… This was not part of the plan. 

Now he was _in the dark_ , because he didn’t _know_ what his Princess was thinking!

In seconds, she was back in front of him, the umbrella thrust out as she pushed it into his hands. 

“I, um, just thought it was about time I returned it,” she said, almost hysterically. 

Adrien stilled. “Is… Is that what you wanted to tell me? That you kept my umbrella all this time?”

Marinette nodded once, rocking on her feet as Adrien stood up as well. “Really, Marinette?” he asked, leaning in a little closer. _She was right there._ He could smell the vanilla and toffee off of her! He could, _literally_ , kiss her right now.

To her credit, she didn’t flinch or move back. She did lie though - _Of course, Adrien! Three years is a long time to be keeping an umbrella that is not mine, hahahahahah -_ not recognising Adrien’s attempt at giving her a chance to backtrack and _go back to the script_ , for what it was. 

He wondered if he should just go, _To Hell With The Bet_ , and never admit that to Marinette; she’d made that bet with _Chat_ and not _Adrien_ after all. But then again, if all went to plan, Marinette _would_ eventually know Adrien _was_ Chat and then she would _know_ that he lied, and she hated liars but _then again, she was lying right now and not telling him she was in love with him and making this hard for everyone involved._

OH, GODS. The moral dilemma of it all.

He locked his fingers with her very loosely. 

“Thanks, Mari,” he said, looking down at her as she still stared at him wide-eyed, with her bright baby blues. “For keeping it safe. And in such great condition.”

“N-No problem,” she said breathily, still when he tucked a strand of hair behind her hair. “A-Anything fo-for my good friend.”

Adrien startled at that, blinking at her as she let out a soft groan and deflated completely, and despite the amused hysteria seeping into him, he couldn’t help but hug her as her forehead came to a rest on his chest. 

He thought he heard a muffled, “I’m such an idiot.”

He chuckled and hugged her tighter. “Oh, Marinette. You’re so cute.”

-o-

"He called me _cute_!" pouted Marinette. "How was I supposed to _function_ after that!"

"What a funny coincidence, I called my girl cute today too!" Chat grinned. He didn't even try to tame the smug look in his eyes as Marinette spun in her chair, eyes on the ceiling, a dreamy smile on her face. "And the blush on her face was the prettiest thing I'd ever seen. And honestly, if you could just _hurry_ up, I'd like the chance to kiss my girl, please."

Marinette snorted. "Concede the bet, and you _can_."

" _Never,"_ he retorted, regretting it immediately.

-o-

Over the next week, Adrien had the honour of witnessing firsthand the numerous ways Marinette could sabotage herself, while simultaneously giving his patience a really good exercise.

_(_

_“Adrien, do- do you want to go on a walk to the park with me,” she’d asked, picnic basket in hand, as she shifted nervously on her feet. “There’s something I want to tell you.”_

_“Of course, Marinette!” he’d said, gathering all his composure, as he followed her to the park._

_“Any special reason for this?” he had asked, hoping that would prompt her into saying something._

_Well, it did. But not the thing he wanted to hear. “Um, b-because the weather is so great,” she’d laughed nervously, before fumbling with her phone. “I- I should ask Alya and Nino to join us as well!! It would be rude of me otherwise, they’re our friends, right? Right.”_

_And he’d flopped onto the grass on his back with a groan to glare at the gReAt WeAtHer’s blue skies as she diverted her attention to invite Alya and Nino._

)

And one of the most emotional metaphorical roller-coaster he’d be on...

(

“ _God, Adrien I love you!!!” she squealed as he handed her a roll of that fabric she’d gushed to Chat about._

 _His heart had seized, and the words ‘I love you, too’ were on the tip of his tongue, when she flailed, very reminiscent of his college days, and hurriedly backtracked, “I- I mean, as a good friend. A_ **_great_ ** _friend who got me something I’ve had my eye on for days!!! Yep.”_

_In his mind, he’d fallen to the floor dramatically on his knees while apologising for calling Marinette his ‘good friend’._

)

He supposed that was nothing compared to that one night as Chat. 

_She was frowning at him, kneeling right in front of him as she glared at the tip of his nose._

_“I can do this.”_

_“_ **_Yes_ ** _, you can. You_ **_must,_ ** _Princess.”_

 _“I_ **_will_ ** _do this, even if it’s so you can ask your girl out.”_

 _“_ **_Yes_ ** _, you will.”_

 _"We **both** _ _deserve love, kitty."_

" ** _Yes_ , **we do."

_Then, surprising the everloving shit out of him, she took his face in both her hands, each of her hand splayed across his cheeks, thumb softly caressing his cheekbones as she held him. Her blue eyes were burning with seriousness, their faces inches apart. Adrien suspected that in that moment, he had stopped breathing._

_“Adrien,” she said, and the thrill of when she said his name like_ **_that,_ ** _made him shiver in her hands. “I love you, so, so much.”_

_And then, she proceeded to kiss the tip of his nose._

_Chat Noir had never been so still in his life, except when posing for photos, he supposed. Though Vincent would have his head for the “stiffness”. Adrien could_ **_feel_ ** _the heat on his cheeks, no doubt being felt by Marinette, who was now looking at him anxiously and_ **_god_ ** _, she really needed to stop biting her lower lip like that._

_He tried to say something, he really did. “Guh.”_

_Marinette withdrew with a groan, her forehead dropping on Chat’s shoulder. “That was too much wasn’t it?”_

**_Just right_ ** _, if Adrien was being honest. “Guh.”_

_“Yeah, you’re right,” said Marinette not paying his stupor much mind, sitting up straight again, waving her hand as if dispelling smoke. “I need a new strategy.”_

_)_

It would’ve been so cute if it wasn’t so frustrating.

He also lost count of how many times he had contemplated just taking her face in his hands and seriously telling her how much he loved her before asking her out on a date himself, because his Princess was apparently courageous about everything except for confessing her feelings. 

And hopefully kiss her some. 

Sigh. 

The kissing. Oh, how he wanted to kiss her. 

She didn’t make it easy for him, or for herself it would seem. 

It was endearing, all the same. 

The resolution of his conundrum took about two more weeks of torturous nights of practicing and days of wanting to combust, but they both got there in the end. It was an uphill task, and involved one (1) iconic black umbrella, some roses and a box of macarons, but they did it.

Adrien decided that those weeks of thin patience, and wanting to combust on the spot were all worth it in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> i might just write sequels and prequels for this honestly, because the more i wrote - most just made up on the go tbh - i realised that there's a LOT of room for BOTH, what with the identity reveal yet to happen, the FEELINGS reveal, not to mention that road trip. 
> 
> it'd be fun to write i guess, but we shall see. feel free to chat or ask about stuff on my tumblr! - [activechataclysme.](https://activechataclysme.tumblr.com/)


End file.
